Monetizing My YouTube videos. It didn’t take long soon after I had posted my first video Organic gardening, my homemade compost sifter experience. to make the choice. Over the years I’ve learned that uploads/downloads can get corrupted. That said I checked my newly uploaded at the time non-monetized video on YouTube and the very first thing I watched was an advertisement. I cannot remember what the ad was for but remember it was short maybe 15 seconds, 30 max. Didn’t think anything of it.

Several months went by and it suddenly dawns on me when I was checking out some of my favorite YouTube channels through Apple TV that I could also see what my own creations look like on a larger screen. Hello! I think that is called a, clue! Why didn’t I think of it before? Excited at this “new” discovery I quickly navigated over to my content, pushed play. Commercial advertisement. If I remember correctly it was an AARP ad that lasted a minute but I could be wrong on who but am sure the ad lasted a minute because it had a countdown timer which surprised me.

Forward in time, not sure how long. I’m learning more about YouTube video making and am considering using the YouTube video editor instead of iMovie. I opened the video editor and noticed something printed on the screen. It says “Advertisements may be displayed on videos that use content available through the YouTube Video Editor”.

That made me think about the ads running along with content creators non-monetized videos. If I as a creator, use the YouTube editor, YouTube is at liberty to use my intellectual property to sale advertisements to potential customers and I would not receive any compensation for that use. When I look at like that, I realize, I’ve donated my time, creativity and energy for a for profit corporation to make a little, profit. I have no problems with the profit part, however when looking at my budget though, it doesn’t add up.

I started posting videos to YouTube for several reasons. One of then is to capture certain parts of life on film either still or video and share it with others so they can experience it. I’m not a pro, not into the pro gear it’s too much to deal with, I always use the most low-budget cameras and equipment available to me at any given time. Consider me a professional-amateur. It’s about the story or image not the quality of equipment. My point? No matter how low-budget one does a video-photo project there are expenses involved.

Back to the budget. One never knows in this life how much funding they will need for the present, future or unexpected. Having monetary income from various sources is the only course of action I can see that will ensure an individuals successful future. It’s a case of “never put all of your eggs in one basket”. The Humpty-Dumpty Future Plan? Better off skipping that one I’ve tried it, it doesn’t work. Back to the point.

When I had posted my first video I had already set up an Amazon affiliate store. My thinking at the time was that if I could make a little bit from that to help pay for my project expenses then the better. The thing that made me decide for sure to do it was that Amazon stated on their website that it did not raise the price on the consumer. That sounds like a good deal for everyone. The YouTube viewer gets to watch something they have an interest in without a paid membership from thousands of contributors, Amazon makes a sale and I would get a little bit for my projects.

Everyone wins! The way I see it. To the present. AdSense. AdWords. All the other stuff I can’t remember. I’m not going to explain them because I’m not capable. I do know the smart money is; monetizing the videos posted because if you read the fine print in almost any of the social media outlets permission is given to use that material however they want to. They have a big money pie and it would be stupid of me to not have a little slice of prosperity myself when they’re using my intellectual-property-ingredient to make it.

My videos are available in the United States, I’m not sure what other countries they may run in. They are usually available if they do not violate any of the various morality laws or standards. That means just one video has the potential to reach millions of people worldwide, simultaneously. Wrap your mind around that for a moment. Amazing!

For the present and into the future I’ll make videos like I usually do. Whenever something inspires me to make one. Can’t wait to see how the monetization works out. -13